Also known as: linea · lineage · lineages · lineally · lineal descent · direct line
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Direct blood descent from an ancestor through successive generations in the same line.
Lily Lopez conveyed her warehouse to her brother Leo in a deed stating he took it without limitation. Leo died intestate with no spouse or children but left a sister and several cousins. The estate passed to the sister and cousins as collateral heirs because the fee simple was inheritable by all statutory heirs under the Restatement rule.
Layla Lane sought to inherit from her deceased father under state intestacy rules. The court examined whether she could prove a lineal relationship through DNA evidence after the father's estate challenged her status. The ruling turned on whether the evidence established direct descent rather than a collateral connection.
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Luke Latham lived with his grandmother in a single-family zone that restricted occupancy to certain relatives. The city cited the household because the ordinance excluded some lineal descendants beyond immediate children. The dispute centered on whether the grandmother and grandson formed a protected lineal unit under the housing rules.
Leonard Lowe taught German to his young lineal descendants in a private home setting. State law banned foreign-language instruction to children before eighth grade. The challenge asserted that the prohibition interfered with the parent's right to direct the upbringing of his direct blood relatives.
Leo Lynch disclaimed his interest in his father's estate to avoid tax liability. The disclaimer passed the property directly to his own lineal descendants under state probate rules. The IRS challenged whether the transfer qualified as a qualified disclaimer that preserved the lineal chain.
Lillian Locke alleged that store employees conspired to detain her based on her race. She offered evidence of a pattern of conduct at the same location traceable through successive incidents. The court examined whether the evidence established the required agreement among the actors.
Lineal descent traces direct blood relationships through successive generations from an ancestor. Collateral inheritance involves relatives who share a common ancestor but are not in the direct line, such as siblings or cousins. A fee simple estate held by a natural person passes to both lineal and collateral heirs under intestacy rules unless the grant limits inheritance.
No. A devise in fee simple to a natural person creates an estate inheritable by both lineal and collateral heirs when the lineal line fails. The language must expressly limit succession to direct descendants to cut off collaterals.
A regularly kept religious record of family history, such as a baptismal register, is admissible under the hearsay exception for statements of birth, ancestry, or similar facts. The record need not be complete or corroborated by civil vital statistics to be received for proving lineal descent.
…Fourteenth Amendment." Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur , 414 U. S. 632, 639-640 (1974). A host of cases, tracing their lineage to Meyer v. Nebraska , 262 U. S. 390, 399-401 (1923), and Pierce v. Society of Sisters , 268 U. S. 510, 534-535 (1925), have consistently acknowledged a "private realm of family life…